The week started on the wrong foot for a couple of the largest Chinese companies: Alibaba, Tencent-backed China Literature, and Hive Box Technology.
China’s largest market regulator, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), has fined the abovementioned companies because they didn’t make the proper declarations to authorities regarding former acquisitions. Each of the three companies got a $76,463 fine from the SAMR. In its online statement, the SAMR announced that “platforms are not outside the anti-monopoly law.”
The fines are part of a larger movement set in motion by the SAMR, looking to sanction and regulate tech companies. Currently, China is fighting companies that have largely grown freely in the past years and became an important part of everyday life.
Last month, the SAMR released a draft of what could be a regulation of tech companies. The draft refers to pricing, payment methods, and the way data is used to target shoppers.
When the news hit the wire, Tencent and Alibaba stock prices lost around 2.9% during the Hong Kong trading session.
Sources: techcrunch.com, cnbc.com